Cup-dispenser



L. W. LUELLEN.

CUP DISPENSER.

APPLICATION FILED )uu/ 2.1914.

1 ,337,843 Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

FIGJ

EN TOR.

jlTNESSZjg/ Z L. W. LUELLEN.

CUP DISPENSER.

APPLICATION mu) JULY 2. 1914.

1,337,843, Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FIG. 6

WITNESSES tainty.

broadly in my STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAWmCE W. LU-ELLEIW, OF MOUNTAIN LAKES, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGHOB, BY HEBINE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 INDIVIDUAL DRINKING GUI OOII'ARY, INC A CORPORATION 01' HEWYOBI.

CUP-DISPENSER.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I LAwnnNcnWV. LUEL- nnN,'a citizen of the IInited States, residing in Mountain Lakes, county of Morris, an State of New Jersey, and whose post-oifice address is Boonton, New Jerse have invented certain new and usef Improvemeats in Cup-Dis ensers, of which the following is a'speci cation.

invention relates to dispensers for individual drinking cups of paper or the like, of the t described and claimed atent No. 1,043,853. The present a plication also shows an apparatus embo ying certain features which are claimed in "m pending application Serial No. 616,714, led March 24, 1911, and to which features, therefore, no claim is made herein.

The a paratus of the present invention is design tohave stored within it a stack of nested cu s which are fully protected thereby from dilst and dirt, and are thereby maintained in sanitary condition until used. It includes a member which supports the stack of cups, said member. having a contracted delivery opening through which the terminal cup projects into an accessible position so that it may be withdrawn from the apparatus by the user, the cups being arranged so that the rim ofthe terminal cup is retained within the delivery open' and so protected from contamination unti the cup 18 withdrawn for use.

The object of the resent invention is to provide-an improve construction for supporting the cups, whereby a stack of cups of any desired weight may be retained within the a paratus and whereby the cupsmay be with rawn, oneat a time, with ease and cer- In the accompan drawings, which f a part of this specification,-

Figure 1 is a front elevation of one embodiment of my invention, a part being broken away to show that the on receiver may be of any desired length to old such number of cups as may be convenient.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the apparatus shown-in Fig: 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a shghtly modified form of cup-supporting bracket.

Figs. 4 andfi are enlarged detail views in extreme diameter 0 the cup flanges. the apparatus shown in Fi 1 and 2 the ribsmma i n mm m n Patented Apr. 20, 1920. Application filed July 8, 1814. Serial No. 868,584.

vertical section of a modified construction of cup dispensin Fig. 6 is a simfi lied construction.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of another Referring to the drawings in detail and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2:-

Numeral 1 designates a support or back which may comprise a strip of. wood and which is adapts to be'secured to a wall or the like. Attached to this strip 1 is a bracket 2 which comprises a supporting base 3 adapted to be secured to the strip 1 and the ring 4 which supports the cups 5 and the cup-receiving tube or magatine 6. Ohviously, the manner of suppmtf f the ring 4 may be modified to suit the-con tions under which the apparatus is tobeused. The

' modified construction.

tube 6 is preferably made of glass and accordance with the invention of my Patent No. 1,032,557 havin outwardly extending flan or heads 10 about their rims, and are pre erabl .made of aper or other cheap and easily destructr le substance. The paper may becoated with paraflin so as to make the cups more water-proof, if desired. These on are nested one within the other so as to ormastack and are placed withintll fiel apparatus their opifan ends tllllp. In 0 ertosu portt estackofcu e 4 is rovid ed on its inner suriii ce wit li fi plura ity of annular ribs 11 of slightly smaller inner diameter than the extreme diameter of the cup fl The bottoms of the ves between to ribs are preferably o slightly 1 diameter than til:

are spaced apart vertic equal to the distances between 1: save on flanges. When the stackof cups is p in the apparatus, the of one or more of the terminal cups of the stack will be engaged respectively by one or more of the ribs ar view of another modi- 11, which will support such terminal cups and thereby the entire stack. The lower end of the terminal cup will project a sufiicient distance below the bottom of the ring 4 to permit such cup to be grasped by the user and pulled from the ring, the cup flange being sufficiently flexible to yield and permit the cup to be readily withdrawn without injury to the same. lVhen the terminal cup is withdrawn the stack may drop until the next cup is in a similar position so that the cups of the stack may be successively pulled out of the apparatus. If the stack comprises only a few cups the flange of a single cup at the bottom of the stack may be sufliciently strong to support the entire stack in which case it may normally rest upon the upper rib ll of the supporting ring. In case the stack contains a large number of cups so that the weight of the same is considerable, and the flange of a single cup is not sufliciently rigid to support this weight, it will be seen that the lowermost cups of the stack will be forced down into the supporting ring. \Vhen this oc curs, however, it will be seen that the flanges of a number of successive cups avill be brought into engagement with a COIIPSPUIHL ing number of ribs 11 so that the stack of cups will be supported by the combined resistance of several of the cup flanges. As shown in Fig. 2, four cup flanges are in engagement with ribs 11 so that the stack of cups is supported by the combined strength of these four cup flanges. By providing a number of the ribs as shown in the drawing, the combined supporting action of enough cup flanges can be secured to provide resistance ample to sustain any number of cups which it is desired to place at one time in an apparatus of this character. Ordinarily, in a device constructed as shown in the drawings, not more than three or four cup flanges will be engaged at one time when a stack of one hundred cups is placed in the apparatus. When a cup is withdrawn the stack of cups will simply feed down the distance between two ribs so that ample support is at all times provided for the stack and the cups can be withdrawn one at a time only. Usually there are several ribs not in supporting engagement with the cups, as shown in Fig. 2, these ribs serving to positively separate the cups if, by reason of two or more of the cups sticking together, there should be any tendency for more than one cup to be withdrawn at one time.

Fig. 3 shows a slightly modified form of bracket in which the supporting ring 4 has the glass tube receiving groove 8 formed at the bottom thereof, the cylindrical portion 12 of the ring extending above this groove where it will be inclosed by the lower partof the glass tube when set in the groove. In this way the cylindrical portion 12 fits inside of the glass tube and steadies the same. The ring 4 is provided with the annular r1bs l1 as already described. If desired the cylindrical portion 12 of the ring may be provided with a plurality of slits 13 which render the same somewhat flexible and permit the sections of the ring to be bent in or out slightly so as to permit adjustment to the exact diameter required to secure the most satisfactory movement of the cups through the apparatus.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have illustrated a modification of my apparatus in which the cup separating ribs 11 are spaced apart distances somewhat greater than the distances between the flanges of successive cups in the stack. In this way all of the terminal cups will not be in direct engagement with ribs but one or more of them only will so engage ribs, which, however, will afford ample support for the stack under the usual conditions of use. As shown, the ribs are so spaced that the first and fourth cup flanges are in engagement with ribs. The spacing of the cup supporting ribs a greater distance apart than the cup flanges has the advantage of insuring a positive so aration of the cups when one is withdrawn $10111 the a paratus. This action is illustrated in lgs. 4 and 5; for example, assuming that it is desired to remove a cup from the apparatus, the lowermost cup shown in F i 4 will be grasped and pulled down. sufficient force will have to be applied to cause its flange 10 to spring over the rib 11 which is supporting it, the application of this force requiring the operator to grasp or squeeze the cup rather tightly. As soon as the flange 10 slips over the rib, however, the downward pulling being no longer required, the operator will automatically release the strength of his grasp upon the cu to some extent. As the cups are of somew at yieldable material, the terminal cup will be squeezed into engagement with the next to the terminal cup at the moment that its flange is passing the rib so that the next to the terminal cup will also be pulled down, the more so as it is not supported at the time by one of the ribs. When the flange of the terminal cup passes the rib, however, the pressure upon it and u on the next to the terminal cup is relaxe and at about the same time the flange on the next to the terminal cup will be brought into on getnent with the rib which has just een gassed b the flange of the terminal cup.

his rib lieing abruptly struck by the flange of the next to the terminal cup, in effect strikes a blow thereon which loosens and separates the next to the terminal cup from the cup being withdrawn. Fig. 5 shows how the next to the terminal cup is drawn into engagement with the annular rib which formerly supported the terminal cup, the

latter being shown drawn down toward the bottom of the ring and entirely separated from the stack. In case the next to the terminal cup should be wedged in, or stuck to the cup to be withdrawn so that it was not separated upon the passing of the first rib as described, the same action'is repeated each time the terminal cu is drawn past a rib so that there is practically no danger 3f withdrawing more than one cup at a ime.

Fig. 6 shows a modified arrangement of the cup supporting ribs in which a number of ribs, four as shown, are provided in the upper part of the cup delivery orifice which are spaced apart distances equal to the distances between the cup flan s of successive cups while the lower part 0 the rin carries cup separating ribs spaced apart istances ater than the distances between on anges. In this way the stack of cups wi I be supported by the flan of a plurality of successive cu s as in t e form of a paratus shown in igs. 1 and 2, while i the cups stick to ther while being withdrawn, the spaced ri in the lower part of the ring will serve to positively-separate them in the manner described in connection with the structure of Figs. 4 and 5. Fig. 6 shows the stack being supported by two cups engaging the u per ribs while the two terminal eups have en dra'wn down and-finally separated by the enga ment of the next to the bottom cup with t e first of the spaced ribs, the bottom cup being about to be withdrawn for use.

Fig. 7 shows a modified construction of cup dispensi ring in which instead of complete annu ar cup supporting ribs being provided, spaced r1 sections 14 are employed. As shown, these rib sections each extend about one quarter of the way around the cup delivery orifice, being arranged in pairs and spaced at opposite sides of the orifice. The pairs of sections at successive levels are staggered with relation to each other so that a cup is first engaged by rib sections at opposite ends of one diameter and as it is pulled down in the rings by sections arranged at the ends of a diameter at right angles thereto. By this arrange ment greater freedom of movement is allowed to the -cu s and cup flanges. which may be disto out of circular sha e as the cups are drawn through the ring, t ereb facilitating their removal. The spacing oi the sections 14 vertically may be either equal to the distance between the successive cup flanges as is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or the rib sections may be spaced as shown in Figs. 4 5 and 6, or otherwise, as desired.

While have illustrated and described a only certain specific embodiments of my invention, it is-to be understood that the in- I intend to cover every form-of apparatus in which the principle of my invention is embodied.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. A cup dispensing member having an opening therethrough and having its interior surface transversely corrugated to present a plurality of sup fiorting ledges to be engaged successive y y cups in their passage through the dev' 2. A cup dispensing member having an openin therethrough of substantially uni: form ameter, and having its interior surface provided with alternate parallel ridges and grooves to present a plurality of supporting ledges to be mgaged successively by cups in then pass 7 through the device.

A cup dispens ng device comprising a supporting device for a stack of nested fla 6. cups permitting the withdrawal of sai cups one at a time through an opening therein, 'saidcup summing device aving its interior surface provide parallel ri L r and ves, the diameter of said ridges 1 less an the diameter of the flanged portion ofapaid cups, and the groove eing of greatecdiameter than the iameter of said 1 eportion whereb the weight of said stack 0 snested cups w' 1 be sustained a put by eadh of the several successive 4. A cup d 5 device, comprising a supporting device for a stack of nested 1. cups, permitting the withdrawal of cups one at a time through an opening therein, said cup supportin device aving its iIflJBI'iOB surface1 provid 'wih alternate ra e1 ri an ves, sai ridges lu g unequalg sart, the diameter of Qlld ridges being less than the diameter of th s portion of said cupg and, the grooves ing of greater diameter than the diameter efsaid flanged portionwhereb the weight 6f said stack of nested cups w' lbe sustained in part by eaclr'of the several successive ridges and the cups positively separated when dispensed.

5. In a cup-dispensing device, the combination of a cup supporting having wardly from the inner surface thereof, and

a cup-holding tube normally closed at the upper end and removabiy mounted upon the said ring.

' 6. In a cup-dispensing device, the combination of a cup supporting ring having a plurality of spaced annular ribs extendm inwardly from the inner surface thereo said ring having an annular seat thereon, and a glass cu -receivin tube closed at the upper end and removab y supported upon said seat.

7. In a cup-dispensing device, the 001m vention is not limited to such embodiments. bination with a supporting device for a stack of nested cups, permitting the withdrawal of said cups one at a time through an orifice therein, said cup-supporting device having a plurality of vertically spaced cup engaging ribs, successive ribs being adapted to be engaged by successive cups, sufiicient ribs being brought into engagement by the weight of the stack of cups to support said weight.

8. In a cup-dispensing device, the combination with a supporting device for a stack of nested flanged cups; having a delivery opening therethrough through which a portion of the terminal cup is adapted to pro ject, said support having a plurality of inwardly prO ecting vertically spaced ribs about said opening such ribs adapted to engage the flanges of the terminal cups, the weight of the stack of cups causing the cup flanges of a suflicient number of the lower terminal cups of the stack to be brought into engagement with the successive supporting ribs to provide adequate support for the entire stack.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LAWRENCE W. LUELLEN.

Witnesses GEoRoE E. FORD, EDMUND QUINCY Moses. 

